Seacoast athletes stand out this spring

Thumbs up to an impressive spring sports season from Seacoast high school athletes and teams.

Thumbs up to an impressive spring sports season from Seacoast high school athletes and teams.

For the Marshwood High School baseball and girls lacrosse teams, as well as the York High School girls lacrosse team, the drama continues. All three teams have reached the Western Maine semifinal with dreams of regional and state titles within reach. Best wishes to those teams.

Portsmouth High School's spring sports season was headlined by Nick Ritzo, who won the shot put title at the New Hampshire Meet of Champions.

Ritzo, who is 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 235 pounds, showed his strength by setting a personal record at the Meet of Champions after he had already clinched the state title. His final throw went 54 feet and 3½ inches, about five inches better than his previous best. It was a great way to cap a high school career before heading off to compete for the University of New Hampshire.

PHS also got strong seasons from its boys tennis team, which fell in the Division II state final, and its baseball team, which lost in the semifinals.

Winnacunnet's boys track and field team boasts two N.H. Meet of Champions winners in Tommy Harter (400 meters) and Danny Merchant (discus). Harter, who is slated to join Ritzo as a teammate at UNH, turned in a personal-best time of 49.59 seconds. Merchant won with a throw of 145 feet 6 inches.

Dominique Twombly of Oyster River won state track titles in the 100 and 200 meter event. The St. Thomas girls tennis team was runner-up in Division II.

Exeter High School's spring was led by the girls tennis team's first state championship in an upset over No. 1-seeded Bedford. Shannon Murdock's victory in the 1,600-meter run at the state Meet of Champions was another highlight.

Perhaps the highest praise of the spring sports season goes to the Exeter girls lacrosse team. The Blue Hawks pulled together so impressively following the midseason shooting death of Brentwood Police officer Stephen Arkell, who was a volunteer assistant coach on the team and father of two players. The Blue Hawks reached the Division II semifinals, an impressive accomplishment. But it's impossible to measure how impressive it was to see the team pull together and support each other through a horrible tragedy in a way that inspired an entire community. They showed their love of the game, their love for each other and their love of Stephen Arkell.

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Thumbs up to Portsmouth Rotary and the honorees from the Unsung Hero awards, which went to four women in the community.

Greer Fleisher, a Portsmouth High School student academic services paraprofessional, was honored for her work helping students with developmental delays for a decade.

Lisa Arakelian was honored for her efforts in keeping Portsmouth's indoor pool open.

Nancy London was honored for her work on many nonprofit boards and for her success in fund-raising. This includes End 68 Hours of Hunger, Seacoast Family Promise and the Prescott Park Arts Festival.

Meghan Lennon from the Child Advocacy Center of Rockingham County was honored for her work interviewing young victims of sexual abuse.

All of these women are to be commended. The Rotary is doing a great service, too, by honoring their work and perhaps inspiring others to serve the community.

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